Stabbing Westward has a Halloween treat for its fans: a new EP of covers titled “Hallowed Hymns.” Released on COP International Records, it features four tracks that were instrumental to the industrial band’s beginnings and conjure the feeling of the season. It includes original takes on “Burn” from The Cure (featured on the soundtrack to “The Crow”), the classic “(Every Day Is) Halloween” by Ministry and Echo and the Bunnymen’s “The Killing Moon.” There also is a special “Devil’s Night Mix” version of Stabbing Westward’s “Burn” cover to round out the surprise release.
Digital and physical copies are on sale HERE.
Stabbing Westward currently features original founding members Christopher Hall (vocals/guitar) and Walter Flakus (keyboards/programming), as well as longtime bandmate Carlton Bost (bass) and newest member Bobby Amaro (drums).
Hall said: “2020 has been a shit year. We were supposed to release our new album and tour the U.S. to support it. But clearly that’s not happening. We know Halloween is different this year with no parties and no trick-or-Treating, so we wanted to give fans something special …. something that will help tie you over until we can release some new music.
“We picked these three tracks because, for us, they represent the feeling of Halloween and they were very important songs during our early musical stages. If there were ever two bands that I would say most influenced Walter and I to form Stabbing Westward it would be Ministry and The Cure. From the earliest days of Ministry’s ‘With Sympathy’ through the evolution of ‘Twitch,’ they were the band that opened our minds and hearts to industrial music. To be able to reimagine these songs as Stabbing Westward while still trying to pay homage to the brilliance of the original versions was a terrifyingly fun adventure.
“We have been working on the album so hard for so long that it was really a joy to take a break and explore all these tracks had to offer. As often as you listen to your favorite songs it’s a totally different experience to take one apart and see how it was built. It gave me such an immense appreciation for what these amazing artists created—especially the Ministry track knowing how primitive the gear was that Al Jourgensen had to work with back then with none of the modern tools we take for granted today. He literally created new techniques in the studio that we still use today. He was light years ahead of his time. We hope you enjoy listening to these tracks as much as we have enjoyed recording them.”
Stabbing Westward recently reunited for the first time in decades, releasing the “Dead And Gone” EP with new material in January 2020 and announcing a new record deal with indie label COP International to release the band’s upcoming fifth studio album, “Wasteland”—its first new LP in 20 years—set for 2021.
The band has recruited its original producer, John Fryer, for “Wasteland.” Fryer, whose production credits include Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, 4AD, Cocteau Twins and Love and Rockets, was behind the boards on Stabbing Westward’s early albums “Ungod” (1994) and “Wither Blister Burn + Peel (1996).”
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